Oracle SOA - Data Modernization

Here we look at strategies to modernization a set of data stores that are stored across disparate and heterogeneous sources. We often have problems with accessing and managing legacy data. There is an increase in cost to run batch jobs, which generate reports 24 to 48 hours after they are needed. Further, this legacy data often needs to be integrated with other database systems that are located on different platforms. So, from a business perspective, there is a real problem in getting actionable data in a reasonable amount of time, and at a low cost.

With Data Modernization solutions, we can look at leaving legacy data on the mainframe, pulling it out in near real time, lowering MIPS costs by processing reports outside of the batch winding, and integrating this with heterogeneous data sources. This is leveraged through employing several technologies in concert.

Legacy Adapters

With a collection of legacy adapters provided by Oracle and our partners, we are able to enable the organization to access almost any data store with any environment. Further, many of these technologies can employ bidirectional change data capture so that we can publish data changes to a data warehouse in near real time.

The following is the current list of legacy adapter and change data capture partners that are a part of the Oracle Modernization Alliance. The following is the list of legacy adapter/data migration partners along with their respective URLs:

• Attachmate ( http://www.attachmate.com/ )

• Attunity ( http://www.attunity.com/ )

• DateDirect Technologies (Progress Software) ( http://www.datadirect.com/ )

• GT Software, Inc ( http://www.gtsoftware.com/ )

• Hostbridge ( http://www.hostbridge.com/ )

• Micro Focus ( http://www.microfocus.com/ )

• OpenConnect Systems ( http://www.oc.com/ )

• SeaGull Software Systems ( http://www.seagullsoftware.com/ )

• Treehouse Software ( http://treehousesoftware.com/ )

With legacy data adapters, we can access relational and nonrelational data stores. So, once we have access to this information, we then need to rationalize that to a common data set. This is where we can employ Oracle's ETL Tools.

Using Oracle Data Integrator (ODI), or Oracle Warehouse Builder, we can then connect to these data stores to do the data mapping and transformation. With ODI, we can integrate with high volume and event­driven processes. Once this has been transformed to the target database, we then employ Oracle Business Intelligence.

With Business Activity Monitoring, we can extend the notion of Business Intelligence and gain a real­time view into the business processes of the organization. Managers can now transform their core business from disparate data, expensive, and stale reports to a vision into the discrete business processing that drives the organization. This enables organizations to leverage their legacy assets to deliver not only key business intelligence, but also correlate these processes to key performance indicators (KPIs).

Finally, another important feature of this solution is that it is noninvasive. Many mainframe shops do not go for the large scale modernization efforts due to the perception of high risk involved. With data modernization, an organization can retain the entire legacy infrastructure without changing it. We would rather employ SOA technologies to extend the mainframe, while simultaneously lowering MIPS costs.

From a visual perspective, we can go from this type of latent and expensive static reporting:



To this, leveraging Business Activity Monitoring/Business Intelligent in a fully integrated manner.

Replacement

Commercial Off­the­Shelf (COTS) products are frequently considered when a modernization project is undertaken. If the target package exists, COTS Replacement can be a highly cost­effective strategy with a significant reduction in risk. This works very well with common applications such as billing, HR, payroll, and other more commonly used applications.

The implementation of a COTS solution assumes that the organization is willing to adapt to the new system paradigm. Therefore, core business processes must be altered and adapted. Another aspect of a COTS Replacement built on a SOA framework is that one can utilize this new architecture for other component orchestration. Oracle Applications are built upon Fusion Middleware, which can enable an entire organization to integrate heterogeneous applications and data faster.